As competition in the airline industry heats up, Emirates airline has taken luxury in flying a notch higher by investing in key partnerships with luxury brands and overhauling its in-flight amenities that will now include a new range of vanity kits from Bulgari and lounge wear that uses patented technology. The improved in-flight amenities for first and business class passengers, announced Wednesday, also feature products exclusively made for Emirates by VOYA, a luxury Irish skincare brand distributed through some of the world’s top spas and hotels. The airline saw its net profit fall by 75% in the first half of the year, as the strong US dollar and “challenging” environment put pressure on the aviation industry. But the decline hasn't stopped the carrier from investing further. <br/>
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JetBlue stock has soared 30% over the past month and a half, as demand for airplane tickets has jumped and the company has made promising comments about its prospects. But one analyst thinks investors may be overlooking the company’s risks. Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth downgraded JetBlue shares to Market Perform from Outperform Wednesday. Syth’s concern is that the company is expanding into too many new markets, which could make it harder to keep planes filled. Much of that is related to JetBlue’s decision to add service to Cuba, but the company is also adding service in other areas too. That decision to expand capacity by about 7.5% in 2017 comes as most other carriers are slowing expansion to make sure the domestic market doesn’t get oversaturated and cause them to lower fares. <br/>
It took 10 years for Jeju Air to become Korea's third-largest airline. The carrier, which began operations with one Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2006, now flies 26 planes, after breaking through the duopoly that Korean Air and Asiana Airlines had over domestic skies for decades. Following its successful stock market debut in Nov 2015, the airline has been in the black while only showing small growing pains. With more cash and new business strategies, it now aims to fly higher. Next year, the company plans to boost its fleet to 32 planes as well as the number of its regular destinations from the current 39 to 50. With these efforts, Jeju Air expects to transport 10m passengers annually. By the end of this year, about 8.6m passengers are anticipated to have used its services, up from 7.19m in 2015 and 5.55m in 2014. <br/>
Airbus formally agreed with Iran Air to sell 100 aircraft to the carrier. Thursday's deal was initially announced in Jan 2016, after the sanctions against Iran were lifted, but was followed by regulatory delays. Airbus said the deal was also subject to US govt Office of Foreign Assets Control export licenses, which were granted in September and November. "We hope this success signals to the world that the commercial goals of Iran and its counterparts are better achieved with international cooperation and collaboration," said Iran Air chairman and CE Farhad Parvaresh. The contract covered 46 Airbus A320 planes, 38 A330s and 16 A350 XWB aircraft, with deliveries set to begin in early 2017. The first Airbus aircraft could arrive before president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated Jan 20. Trump opposed lifting sanctions on Iran. <br/>
Eurowings will equip 69 Airbus A320 family aircraft with Inmarsat GX Aviation broadband, with full roll-out anticipated by mid-2017. “The first installations have already been completed by Lufthansa Technik and testing is scheduled to commence in the New Year. All aircraft covered in this agreement are expected to be fitted out by the middle of 2017,” Inmarsat announced Dec 22. Eurowings is the LCC launch customer for GX Aviation, although the selection is unsurprising as Lufthansa Group has played a strong role in the GX Aviation project. The carrier has a 10-year strategic agreement with Inmarsat, which includes the roll-out of GX Aviation across Lufthansa’s European fleet of over 180 aircraft, plus 30 Austrian Airlines A320 family aircraft. <br/>